Housework.

Woodjie is learning to be more independent.  Here he is putting clothes on their hangars.  It's a work in progress.

He's in charge of sorting his own laundry and putting it away.  Woodjie wants you to see the shelf where his pants are kept.

Rose also has her own laundry basket and came to visit her brother in his room after her chore was done.  They play together every day.

Congrats to Emperor!

Officer H presented an award to Emperor during the drug education program graduation at school today.  His essay on why he is against the legalization of marijuana was chosen as the best out of about 180, and was read before the mayor, some school board members, the police chief and the entire sixth grade.  Great job, Emperor! 

Winter Activities!

Rose insisted we celebrate Valentine's Day by making cupcakes.  We made 42 cupcakes on Thursday and today only two are left. 

Woodjie has decided he hates frosting.  So decorating his cupcakes is a pretty simple task.

Emperor wants popcorn and candy hearts in his frosting. 

Rose isn't one to just have two or three or something.  She poured the entire jar of Hello Kitty heads onto her after-lunch cupcakes.  :/

Recently I made teddy bear pancakes.  I used a frosting dispenser to squeeze out the batter in just the right amounts.  Messy, but the results are pretty good if I do say so myself.

Woodjie and Rose are playing an addition game I made up using UNO cards.  I took all the skip, reverse and so on cards out and left just the numbers.  Each child gets a card and the child with the highest number has to add the two cards together and then "keep" the cards until the end of the game.  We need to work on memorizing our addition math facts. 

Taking a break and watching a short Brain Pop, Jr. clip.  Hope your winter is also going well! 

I Think There Is A Story Behind This.

Speaking of hair, Rose recently used my scissors to give herself a trim!

Emperor informed me yesterday that it is statistically more likely for breakups to occur before Valentine's Day than it is for new relationships to form.  And incidentally, he certainly sees this whole holiday as a way for people to get greedy, or sad if they don't get what they want.  And for businesses to derive income. 

Awww.  Poor little kid feels left out, I'm thinking.

Well, I told him, don't you worry.  Someday when you are older, Mom will set you up with a nice girl.  She will be soooo pretty and have beautiful red hair.

"Ohhhhhhh no," he told me.  "You're not setting me up.  I will find my own girlfriend.  And she will most certainly not have red hair.  And she absolutely most certainly will not have curly red hair.  The girls I know with curly red hair are (raises eyebrow) not very nice girls at all.  That is all I am going to say on this matter."

Well.  Happy Valentine's Day to you, too, Emperor!  Mwaah!

Secret Thoughts of a First-Year Homeschool Mom.

August:

All right, everybody.  I've started a blog and a Pinterest account.  I'm going to be homeschooling soon!  I've pinned every cute "school" idea using clothespins and crayons that exists!  I've researched every curriculum!  I'm going with "Alpha Sun Beka Jones Whatever" stuff because it's so much better than all the rest!  I know it's going to be so awesome!

Read my preachy blog post all about "Alpha Sun Beka Jones Whatever" curriculum!  Look at the mega box which just arrived!  See my children pose with all their books!  They are so excited!  I caught a child peeking in the cover of a textbook.  I snapped a photo and shared online.  This curriculum is magical.  They are already learning soooo much.

I'm also posting cheesy photos of my children with giant 1, 2, and 7 placards, indicating their grade levels this year and consigning them to fashion hell in about... ok, nevermind, I'm consigning them now.  Tacky.

September:

We opened a book!  Here's a picture of my kids opening a book.  I'm also posting this list of "helpful homeschooling websites" I found/pirated from other sites.  Allow me to take a little time here to spout off about how glad I am that God called me to homeschool, and how great homeschooling is.

God loves me, and I know all my readers love me, too.  Go ahead and leave me a comment telling me so.

November/December

Turkey handprint crafts!  Plans for Thanksgiving!  Goofy instagram photos!  Crafts!

And Christmas!  Wheeeee!  I'm so high on sugar, I'm just going to open five jars of glitter and post all about the mess my kids made as though that were some big surprising thing.  You can comment about how this is so. funny. and cute.

January:

Oh.  Sorry I've been quiet on the internet.  This homeschooling thing can be hard work once you get past the "review" lessons and the relatives have left.  I'm going to post some random "Throwback Thursday" photo and hope you don't notice.

February:

My daughter says she hates me and wants to go back to school.  Time to hit the social media websites and ask random strangers for advice!